The Sun. — London, England, 1809-08-24 00:00:00

s le will enjoy the delight of repossessing h rn : she 4:tows not what she is to do, should she lose him ; what she has to ask of him, should he return ; or what to demand, should any be substituted in his place. She possesses high tribunals, some ancient and ruinous .; others recently formed, and wanting consolidation ; and she knows not whuther those will ever rise from their ruins, or whether these will ever be organized, to bectime the worthy pro teelors of the laws. Laws ! yes, Spain has laws, but her citizens are ignorant of them, and huMan life scarcely suffices to understand them : she has laws, but they lie hidden in . thonsands of volumes, and are buried as tinder heaps , ot rubbish : she has laws, but many spring from ancient ignorance ; many from modern caprice. Spain has an immense re venue, but scarcely any- one can be found who is able to develape its principles : she has immense re , sources of finance,*but no one knows how they are to be colle6ted or applied ; no one is acquaiLted with their prciportion to our wants. • " Fmaily, this Nast Monarchy' is tottering on a foundation of sand : how then can it sustain the violent shocks whic" every day threaten it ! Were we insulated, like the happy inhabitants of England, it would be necessary to apply an universal remedy to our internal evils : but how great is this urgency, when w e have for a neighbour a rival nation, with whom we Can never have peace or alliance, if we are to preserve our independence ? Are we then so " delirious, as to fancy it possible for us to maintain nuTherous armies for a considerable time, while the . State remains in the disorganization in which it is "laced by this unbroken series of evil ? Do we ima gine, that because indignant at the injustice we have sustained from the common oppressor of Europe, we hive roused up among us the energies of despair, that these alone will preserve us ? Equally mad would that enfeebled and wonnded mats be, who should fancy himself enabled to pursue a journey of many miles, because he found himself enabled to take a few steps, invigorated by rage, or the tear of an im pending danger : wretched would be be, were the danger to be renewed while he remained uncnred!" MAILS. ARA IVID—L Lisbon, Dublir. DUE-3 Gottenburgh, t Malta, z Waterford. THE SUN. 40LIkt QUIS DICERS YALIIII4 AUDIAT ? LONDON, THUItSDAY, AUGUST 24, 1809. This morning three Messengers arrived from" Lord CHATHAM. The Dispatches which they bring state, that the whole of the British force had landed in South Be.' vcland, except those -left in garrison in Flushing, under the command of Lieutenant- General FRAZER. The most aiitive preparations were making for the attack on Fort Lillo. The Dispatches are dated the 20th instant. We this morning received Spanish and Portu guese Papers, the former to the 1 tth and the latter to the 15th inst. It appears from these Papers, that the French have colle&ed almost the whole of the disposable force which they have in Spain, with a view of bringing it to bear Upon the English army ; the consequence of which has been, that Sir A. WELLESLE r has been under the necessity of making a retrograde movement. SOULT and NEY are stated to have formed a junction, and to have advanced to Placentia, with a view of getting in the rear of the British army, to prevent which, it became necessary for Sir ARTHUR and CutsTs to fall back. The Spanish GeneralVENEGAs is stated to have obtained some advantages over a French corps near Aranjuez, but the details are not given. Sir ARTHUR WELLESLEY has been appointed, by the Supreme Junta, Generalissimo Of the Spanish Forces—an appointment which we trust will be produ&ive of the greatest benefit to the common .cause, as he will now be able to combine his operations with preciiion and certainty. • We have Lttleto:addio the observations that ve made yesterda) , on ihe'censures which the Opposi- tion Writers bare directed against Ministers, for not baying sent part ot-the Expedition three weeks be fore the whole Was - ready; and for having at last sent an armament twice es large as was necessary for the . _ objeLt in view. The Opposition Writers, bowel er , return to the charge, and seem resolved to repeat their accusations,, wit►out paying any attention to reasoning of a• contrary nature. We must again ob serve, that nothing can be expected of importance froth half-measures, and that the taking. of Walche- Ten was not the only obje& in view. It is said by the chief organ of the Party, that " had the force at first sent out not been greater than what was barely sufficient for the conqoest of Walcheren, the French would naturally have supposed that at least in that quarter %ke had nothing farther in contempla tion," and that consequently they might not have colleCted a great force to frustrate any ulterior ope ration. But the French are not so very short-sight , .ed in their poliepos this Opposition Writer seems now to suppose, though when it suits his purpose to represent them as sagacious and at:tive, their powers are exalted far above any that our :Ministers possess. in the first place, is it possible so nicely to ealeu ' late what force . might be necessary for the reduc tion of Walcheren ; aiid ,was it.,not more wise have. such . ai hirtnidable force ._betore.. - it as night tend to precipitate its surrender, and then be in teadiness to proceed at once to the other points in view ? Granting that we had obtain- . ed possession of Walchertm, with half the force we sent against it, are we to presume that the French would not most vigorously have endeavoured to defeat our ulterior designs, by securing the other points of attack, before the remainder of our Expe dition arrived ? This reasoning is full as good as that upon which the Opposition Writers have built their censures against Ministers for delay in he fit st instance, and a prodigal excess of force, for an obje& that might have been accomplished with nearly half of that force. But if we had only sent force sufficient to effect the reduction of Walcheren, and tie: French had than - supposed that " at least in that quarter we had nothing farther in contetnplation,". was it not better to keep them, if possible, in ignorance of our designs altogether, till we had prepared a force best calcu . lated to carry them into effeCt. If they could sup- - pose that we had no farther objett in view in that quarter, after taking Walcheren a.strpposition which would not be very consistent with the penetration and vigilance which the Opposition Writers, always ascribe to them, they would hardly 4ave•proceeded with great vigour to defend any particular place, while they were doubt ful as to the point against ,cvhich our Expedition was actually to be directed ; tor it is well known that in this country various coujeaures, prevailed as to the exact destination of our arms , went, and •no certain knowledge was obtained till many hours after it had positively sailed ; with so much prudence had oar Ministers concealed the secret, till rt was needless to conceal it any longer. Yesterday, at twelve o'clock, his MAJESTY ar rited from Windsor at the Queen's Palace, where he was received by their Royal Highnesses the Dukes of YORK, KENT, and CUMBCHL AND. Soon after two held a private Levee, which was attended by The Archbishop of Canterbury ; the Duke of Portland ; Earls Westmorland, Liverpool, nd Harrowby ; Viscount Castlereagh ; Lords Mulgrave, Lcresan .Gower-, and field ; Lord Arden, (in waiting) ; Sir David Dundas; Mr. Canning; Mr. Percival ; and-Mr. Greville (Groom in wait ing.) • The following had the honour of being presented to his Alajesty : _ Rear : Admiral Stopford, on his marriage, and Mr. Wel- leslcy Fele: Hi NIAJESTY afterwards held a Privy Council, and gave audience to the Duke of PPRYLAND, and the rest of the Cabinet Ministers. At half-past five o'clock his MAJESTY left'town for Windsor. SPANISH AND PORTLGUESE PAPERS. SEVILLE. GAZETTE *L.TRAORDINARY OF THE GOVERNMENT, AUG. 8, 1809. General VENEGAS writes from his head-quarters at Ocanba, under date of the sth instant, that on that day the 1 st, 2d, and 3d divisions of his army had covered themselves with glory on the banks'of the .Tagus, at Aranjuez, where being three times attack ed by the-enemy with the greatest obstinacy, they repulsed them as often ; the calmness and courage of our troops being above ail praise. The force of the enemy consisted of from 14 to 15,000 men, and the atlion lasted from five to eight in the evening.— By another dispatch from General CUESTA welearn, that the Anglo-Spanish army is at Ponte de Arce bispo, on the left hank of the Tagus, watching the movements of Marshal Sour.T. EXTRACT OF A LETTER FROM THE ARMY. • DELECTOSA, AUG. B.—At the moment when the. courier is mounting his ho - rSe to set off, we learn that the Supreme Junta of Spain and the Indies has ap pointed Sir A. WELLESLEY GraeraliSSilllo Of Spain. (Correo de Lisbon.) BA DAJOZ, AUG. 11 .—lt was at first estimated, according to letters from the army, that the loss of the French at the baffle of Talavera de Reyna was not less in killed, wounded, and prisoners than 2:2,00ei men. It now appears that the dispatches of General CUESTA do not make their toss more than half that number. Yet it is the ge neral opinion that it cannot have been less than sixteen thousand, including the dispersed and the wounded, which the French carried away with them, and, according to some accounts, were so numerous that they filled four hundred carts.—:. The rout would have been complete, had our armies been able to follow immediately to Madrid. But the troops were extremely fatigued, and wanted provisions, which we were not able to supply them with that promptness which circumstances re- quired. 'While our troops were burying the dead on the field of battle, information was ‘unexpeaedly re ceived, .that SOULT had entered the province with an army, and was marching upon Pone de Arce bispo and Almarez, as v‘,..•i; to intercept the provisions and cut off the retreat of our army, as to place it be, tween two fires: A fleet of three hundred sail is arrived in the North Generals WELLESI.hY ano CUESTA, penetrating Sea from the Baltic, laden with timber, deals, and j the designs of Sou vr, prepaied to frustrate them, naval stores. They are destined for dale - cut ports, taking, by retrograde nesveroents, new' positions, but have been obliged to put into Harwich , and other harbours to the northward, by contrary winds. the former at the budge ot Alolaraz, and the latter The supplies they bring are most seasonable. 1 at Ponte de Ateetespo, on the left. of the. Tagus. ' The dispatching of_ the Georgina packet for India . 'I hey did in,; fed to take the precaution of destroy is postponed to the beginning of next %Kees. no , the hods , :,f boats which had been constructed at Another draft has been made from the Guards, for ' b foreign service, from those men who have' oeen en- Marian. VICTOR immediately turned suddenly listed upwards of seven years. : upon Taravera de la Rcyna, (unfortunate town !) The stamps have been uncommonly eroduait e Last night a dispatch arrived from Merida to the this year ; and , the Legacy Tax in particular, pros i duces, on an average, 5001. a-day. , Junta, who asserts, that a Courier, Who passed A Flag of Truce i; arrived from Morlaix, in France, through that town, brought an accennt that SOULT with several English 'women and children, and hss had been repulsed. We imp.itiently expe& the ar also brought a considerable number of letters from sisal prisoners of war, which have been forward al Of the courier, to know whether this account ed from the Transport Office ; but as \ yet, the re- be confirmed. turns respelling the British prisoners lately captured, i So long '. es our armies maintain themselves in their or who have died in France, have not been received i present positions, we have no fear the t they should from the French Govetntnent.' • • A letter from Flushing, dated the I 8 11) inst. says } be in want of provisions, as innumerable carriages, "The Stadt-House, a large church, and several with supplies of every kind, ate continually passing other prablic buildings, were entirely consumed in ' along the high road of Seville and Badajos. Flushing by our fire. Tie greaosr part of our ships Some wounded. English have passed through this of war have proceeded up the Sceeldt, and Sir RI CHARD STRACHAN,With the remainder follow to-roor- place, on their way to Lisbon. . row. There are ten French ships of the line and The cursed SOLLT, has been the cause that our fifteen frigates, with about fifty gun-boats, as we now army is not now at Somosierra, and of the evils that learn, beyond Fort Lillo ; there is also o line of battle ship and two smaller vessels building at Flushing." Madrid and Tales era are suffering. Our head-quar- The Arg,us, an English Paper published in France ters are .at Mesas, at Ponte de Arcebispb. The .by a set of renegado wretches, whose crimes obliged F re nch lost. 4000 men, and they say that SoULT lost them to quit this Country, animadverting upon the six pieces of artillery at Placentia , and that he oflered possibility of a descent of Englishmen upon France, says, , 4 there is not a Frenchnian who would not to capitulate. think he has a personal injury to avenge, should the j ' The English are in Almaraz, and their head-quar- English dare to set loot on his territory." It is hardly ters are at Deleaosa..—(Correo de Lisbo n, Au g . 14.) possible to conceive a more bitter sarcasm than this . - • compliment to Frenchmen implies; for do not this LISBON, AUG. 14.—1 t appears by the latest ac heroic, this intrepid race of Frenchmen, who are to counts from BaJajoz, that the corps of SoULT, NET, avenge any insult offered to their territory by a and MotOrten, havingonlvanced to Placentia, in the hostile foot, quietly submit to the usurpation of a I . Foreigner, who treats them with more tyranny than rear of the combined army , the latter' passe d the l ef t they ever suffered under any of their lawful Mo- bank of the Tagus, leaving a stiong corps on the narchs, and exhausts their means, and drains their , right in front of Ponte de Arcebispo, to command population, in order to force his relations and his the passage of the river when it should think proper. minions upon other couturies. After such a disgraceful submission to a low-born despot, and such an unre- The British army has its head-quarters at Delecitosa. sisting obedience to his conscriPtiono for the purpose j The Portuguese, under the command of the Mar of shedding their blood in every pact of Europe, to steal BERESFOLID, were at Fuende de_pinaldo, bey and redness other States to their own despicable level, is it not the grossest insult that can be offered to the ! Ciudad Rodrigo, on the 7th inst. We know nothing people of France to talk of their considering a des- :. of the Spanish armies, but certainly the whole of cent on their country as a "personalinjury", which : the French having united, and left Arragon and both every Frenchman would feel a disposition " so . avenge?" ; the Castiles, almost without a garrison, it is the most i . . Lord WILLIAM RUSSELL, the second son of the favourable moment for invading those provinces, Duke of BEDFuttD, distinguished himself greatly in d e stroying the'weak garrisons which may be found the late battle of Talavera, and had a tsiost narrow , toere and re-taking many important points, es escape. He was struck by three musket halls : , end ' his horse %vas shot in the shoulder and jaw. His seroial to the subsistence and communication of Lordship and a private are all . who are left of the the enemy, whose privations and want of :neces squadron to which he belonged. Every Officer of saries are excessive.—(Liston Gazette.) • the regiment (the 23d Dragoons) was killed or B.IDAJOZ, AuG. 8.-I'he following order of the weuticled ; and the charge of this regiment is 4. ore,i cereal as cue of the most gallant that ever was a. de, d: I Y was published to our army on the est:inst. : it being against three lines of infantrs, supported " Soldiers of the Ai my et . Estramaduia !On the by - ea% airy and artillery. 27th and 28th days. of July, you fought bravely'; Egharn Races commence on Tuesday next, at d 57 purses are entered ter three days spurt. , you repeatedly repulsed the enemy, who was ma- pelted to fly, leaving the field of battle covered his dead. This glorious viaory is due to your fit ru 'tese union, to your incessant and well -soppoi t (4 fire, and to confidence in your officers and chief. if you always observe the same, you will always fx invincibie.i- The French are not men, except where they-find no resistance;- that which they met with in the valiant English troops, our allies, routed and put, them to flight. We know that the French sol- diers now refuse to enter into anion after seeing their best troops destroyed. " Soldiers ! lam satisfied with your valour and firmness . ; I congratulate you on your triumph, as I rely on your union and discipline. " I do not call Soldiers, nor consider ass part of the army, those base cowards who abandoned their , re giments in the day of battle, flying in the moment of danger, and, with the design of producing disorder Such wretches, besides the infamy which covers them, shall be decimated as soon as they are appre • hended. Head quarters, Talaverade la Reyna, August z, 18-g. (Signed) " CUESTA.' LISBON, AUG. 14. —Yesterday a report was in circulation, that the French 'division commanded by Marshal SOULT, which had made its appearance in the environs of Placentia, had been defeated by the main body of the English army an 4 some Spanish troops ; it was even assetted.that Soma. himself had been killed, and that his loss consisted of nine thou« sand men in killed, wounded, and prisoners. We do not 'vouch for the truth of this intelligence, but it islikely to be confirmed, as Marshal WELLEsi.Lt was crosely ‘ratelting the said division of the enemy. And we learnt some days ago, that he had ordered a sufficient number of troops to march against (Lisbon Diary.) GRENADA, Atm. 1...-We learn with satisfaction that the heroic Gerona still held out, with the great* est bravery, on the lath of July, notwithstanding 12,000 bombs, 32,000 cannon shot, and a prodio gious number of grenades had been pr ured into it. The enemy, in the mean time, suffers incalculble losses. On the 17th and 18th they made two as° saulti, ,but were repulsed, and retiredin confusion. It appears that they are preparing to change their batteries from their present position to that part of the fOrtress against which they dire red 'their attacks in June, last year, but this part is not less fortified than the rest, and we trust that the enemy will find themselves disappointed in the same manner as be" fore. On the 15th, General BLAKE passed throne'. Olof, and it is believed that be will Rion be able to succour ,thefortrcss. Such are the accounts we Wye received from the-eastern part of the Peninsula, and of which we wait the particulars. They write horn Tarragona, under date 27th July, that the irnmoital Gerona continued to defend itself with obstinacy. B4DAJOZ, AUG. 2.—The battle of Talavera de la Reyria was so obstinate and bloody, that during Os ` two first days scarcely any quarter was given on ei• ther side. The enemy expeCted succours ; and it is probable that the disision of SOULT was advau* cing by forced marches to their support. A General Court Mai tial has been held at Sidney► in New South Wales, on James Williamson, Esq. Deputy-Commissary, and late Aating-Commissary , of Stores and Provisions, upon the under-nantione 4 charges, viz. tat. For having embezzled fresh and salted provisions, and maize, from his Majesty's stores, whilst :Wing Commissar/ at Sidney. ad. For having diredted Mr. James Wiltshire, the A6ling ; Store-keeper, to make false entries of the weights of bee` slaughtered in his Majesty's stores at Sidney. 3d. for having himself made false entries of the weights a I beef slaughtered in his Majesty's Stores at Sidney. Ot which crimes (be Court found him guilty, and adjudged him to be cashiered, and to forteit to his Majesty the sum of 1001. sterling, and to make good at his own expellee and cost, the loss and tia' mage sustained by his Majesty, amounting to 49 1 . 13s. sterling (as nearly as the Cow t could ascertain) , in consequence at his, the said James Willtainsuo; having embezzled and misapp:ieci trash and salto provisions from his Majesty's stores at Sidney, er l " trusted in his charge, as•aating Co/missal), of sco re° and provisions; which sentence his Majesty ti' been pleased to approve and confirm, and CO'al manded that the charges preferred agaii•st DePu l Y Commisi,ary Williamson, together with the ment awarded him, shall be read at the head of o' 4 regiment. On Friday last a part) of French prisoners, Of sisting of thirty, were placed under escort of a u" . tachttient of the WestminSter Militia from NornIa ll• cross bdrracks to Chatham, and whilst in conti'w; meat at Bow, Middlesex, twelve of them contrive' to effect their escape. They were lodged in stab le ''': eke. in such a situation as to baffle the vigilatico,. ° the military. A meeting of the Diretiors and Subscribers of the Strand Bridge took ph ice, yesterday, when, we L IP • derstaad, they came to the determination of er" c '' . ing the bridge nearly opposite to the Lyceum 11 4 ' 1 : ire, and not 'fronting Catherine-street, is was 0 1 . &malty intended, as it would interfere with part °) the buildings of Somerset House; the opening fro° the Strand to the bridge will be where Mr. F O ,, To K's superb glass nianutactoty stands. The .ti c h o t i are,to be of the sane ditntft,sioi,s, and a causeAv a Y e sonte . length to be erected at either side; so as to an .easy kteclination from the .S!rand; and ow the - Opposite side. It was originally .ha ye efected• a temporary wooden bridge i oitrrb6r bring scarce, and tite price so enornion 9, ' plan has betu given up. .